The present invention relates to a device in which recording sheets discharged onto the uppermost portion of an upper frame are prevented from slipping off when the upper frame is opened with respect to a lower frame in a recording or image forming apparatus.
Generally, in a recording apparatus or an image forming apparatus, when an image is formed or transferred onto a recording sheet, a method in which the recording sheet is discharged to be taken from the apparatus after an image has been formed on the recording sheet which is fed from a feeding device, is widely used. The apparatus can be made small by structuring the apparatus in the following manner: the recording sheet is discharged on a sheet discharging tray provided on the side of the apparatus. However, this is disadvantageous in that a required installation area of the entire apparatus becomes large because the sheet discharging tray protrudes from the side of the apparatus. When the recording sheet is discharged on an upper portion of the apparatus, in the image forming apparatus such as a printer whose upper portion is not used specifically, for example, there are advantages in that a protrusion of the sheet discharging tray is eliminated, and an installation area of the apparatus can be small. However, in the image forming apparatus such as a printer, the recording sheet is conveyed by a sheet feeding unit, a transfer unit, and the like, and since the recording sheet is jammed sometimes while being conveyed, it must be taken out from the apparatus.
As a structure in which the jammed recording sheet is taken out, a conveyance path is opened upward and downward so that the recording sheet can be taken out safely and rapidly. Generally, a method in which the entire apparatus is divided into two portions is widely used. However, when the above-mentioned method is used, there are the following problems in which: the sheet discharging tray is inclined naturally, and a number of recording sheets which have been discharged slip off from the apparatus, and thereby, the recording sheets become dirty, and the page order of the recording sheets which are discharged in order is disturbed.